January 31, 2018

Diagnosis and Symptoms

Question from London, United Kingdom:

My 16-year-old daughter has had some symptoms of diabetes for over four weeks. She has thirst and frequent urination, as well as a constant headache, dizziness, and fatigue. At 5 feet, 1 inch tall, she weighs 51 kg (112 pounds), after a gradual loss of 2 kg (4 pounds) due to a reduced appetite. She had a blood test and her A1c was 42, which the doctor thought was normal. After doing some research, I found it it is pre-diabetic. Her symptoms are largely varying day to day with some being worse then others. She is also waking up to pee some nights. Should I be concerned that it could it be diabetes?

Answer:

It does not sound normal, so I would get a consultation with a diabetes specialist, not a general practitioner or family doctor. She may need some home blood glucose monitoring and/or formal glucose tolerance testing as well as some other laboratory testing, such as followup A1c levels, insulin levels, consideration for insulin resistance or polycystic ovaries if also overweight, has acanthosis nigricans, and/or menstrual problems. She definitely needs further follow-up.

SB

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Last Updated

Thursday, February 21, 2019 15:52:02 UTC

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Justin Delgado is husband to Kacie Doyle-Delgado, diagnosed at age 11. After more than a decade together, he considers himself to be an expert carb counter and Dexcom inserter. He graduated with his Master of Science in Finance from the University of Utah in 2013 and has been working in commercial banking since then. He attended his first Friends for Life conference in 2015 and is looking forward to volunteering with the teens.

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Kacie Doyle-Delgado, MSN, APRN, NP-C, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11 and attended her first Friends for Life conference in 2002. Since then, she has attended several FFL and regional conferences. She earned her BSN and her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT and she is currently enrolled in a DNP program. She works for Utah Physicians Care Center in a diabetes specialty clinic. Kacie lives in Salt Lake with her husband, Justin Delgado, and their dogs. She is looking forward to volunteering with the teens again.

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Marissa Town, BSN, RN, CDE, graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and later earned her Certified Diabetes Educator credential. She has had type 1 diabetes since the age of two and has grown up with a passion for helping families living with diabetes. Marissa is currently working as a research nurse at Stanford University. She has always enjoyed working with families with diabetes at Children with Diabetes conferences, camps, and support groups. She and her husband Adam have two young children, Connor and Everly.

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